Buried In Verona

Circle The Dead

Sydney (New South Wales) based outfit Buried In Verona are the latest melodic death metal/metalcore act to emerge from the Australian underground scene. Having only been on the scene for the last couple of years, this five piece act (Who comprise of vocalist Brett Anderson, guitarists Michael Taylor and Kat Chitlita, bassist Scott Richmond and drummer Richie Newman) have gained some attention on the live front (Supporting the likes of Daysend, Toe To Toe and Frankenbok).

In the studio, Buried In Verona have managed to surround themselves with some fairly impressive names, with recording handled by Greg Stace (One Dollar Short and Something With Numbers), DW Norton (Mindsnare, Daysend and Day Of Contempt) mixing and Steve Smart (Parkway Drive, Bodyjar and Grinspoon.) mastering the band's debut full-length effort Circle The Dead. But for all the big names and high sheen heard on Circle The Dead, it doesn't disguise the fact that Buried In Verona play melodic death metal/metalcore pretty much by the numbers.

The album opens up in a particularly brutal fashion with Five Bullet Russian Roulette, All For Nothing and the ridiculously Cluedo board game inspired titled Colonel Mustard In The Conservatory With The Lead Pipe. The huge riffs sound big and heavy, the drums powerful and the vocals aggressive/melodic enough to sound enjoyable. But having said that, there's nothing on the three tracks that really stands out as anything different or unique that hasn't been done before countless times in the past.

Despite lacking any originality in the musical sense, I'll give the band credit for the humorously titled Can I Borrow A Feeling? (An obvious tribute to Milhouse's dad Kirk Van Houten from The Simpsons, who penned a tragic song under the same name), while the melodic Taken To The Light and the mid-paced No Time To Die are otherwise solid tunes. The reminder however doesn't stand out as anything more than generic and overly familiar.

Overall, Buried In Verona doesn't stray too far from the direction and sound that helped I Killed The Prom Queen rise to prominence prior to their break up last year. And while some will claim that there's a lucrative niche to be filled, Buried In Verona are sadly just one of a thousand similar sounding acts vying for that particular piece of the market.